Lee Garmes admitted to having been strongly influenced by Rembrandt. Like
the Dutch painter, the director used north light by lighting the set from
an opening facing north. He desired to achieve a low-key light, with lots
of deep shadows and a lack of strong headlights. Critics have referred to
his light as "painterly." Most details are omitted; only
significant elements of the scene and actors are highlighted. In
The Garden of Allah
Garmes draws upon the north-light effect, which had first been developed
by John F. Seitz. In the courtroom scene in
An American Tragedy
most of the light comes from a window facing north.

These stylistic traits date from influences gained in Garmes's
silent-film work. From working with John Leezer, he learned to filter out
unwanted detail by means of gauze over the lens. Near the end of the First
World War, Garmes got a hack job filming slapstick comedies for Gale
Henry. The films' budgets were so low that the cameramen had no
lights and used an open stage with reflectors that caught and directed the
sunlight. In
The Grand Duchess and the Waiter
Garmes and the director Mal St. Clair sought to achieve a subtly varying
grisaille effect by lighting and by creating sets painted in different
shades of grey. In
The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come
Garmes completely replaced the arc with Mazda lights and lead-sheet
reflectors.
Morocco
, Garmes's first masterpiece, evoked North Africa with a torrid mix
of sun and shadows, created by covering the "streets" with
lattice-work and filming at high noon. Garmes filmed Marlene Dietrich with
the north-light effect—his trademark, and hers from then on. He
further added to the Dietrich image by lighting her in a low key and
filming her in the misty atmosphere of
Shanghai Express
. In
Zoo in Budapest
Garmes created a verdant, parklike effect by placing lacy plants in front
of the camera—they appear as a hazy blur.

Even when working with color, he always strove for a soft effect and a
certain vagueness. He worked on the opening portions of
Gone with the Wind
, and sought a soft-toned color; however, David O. Selznick took Garmes
off the film because the producer preferred harsh, picture-postcard
colors. Garmes claims credit for planning the Atlanta railway-yard shot;
but so do Val Lewton and others.

Of his later works, Garmes felt that his best work was
The Big Fisherman
, but perhaps a more interesting piece, cinematographically speaking, is
his work on
How to Save a Marriage
, where he achieves a subtle form of expressionistic lighting varied to
convey the moods of the protagonist.

—Rodney Farnsworth

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